Every now and then I come across a phrase that kinda stops me in my tracks. Like the other day when I was reading an essay about the reasons behind the war in Ukraine and the author mentioned "toxic nostalgia" as one of the main causes.   It's not hard to suss out the meaning: a desire to go back to the way things were despite the negative or harmful implications of doing so. Seems like an appropriate phrase not just for Russia's incursion but for so much of how we seem to be reacting to … [Read more...]

This fall, at the end of one of our first in-person conference presentations, amidst the buzz of actual human interaction and reunions among colleagues from various cities finally seeing each other in person, one woman hung back until after all the other participants' questions were asked. Then she confided: "I'm struggling because people at my school have become so divided about even bringing up the topic of race." I responded with what I thought was a totally benign reply: "As a leader at … [Read more...]